8.10 The B.E.A.S.T. Class

BEAST stands for Biointerfacing Exoskeletal Assault Suit Tech/Technician (depending on whether you're referring to the suit or the operator).

These are shock troops that seek to overwhelm their opponents with a panoply of weapons and the enhanced strength granted to them by their suits.

The three BEAST class skills are MWP (Mobile Weapons Platform), Plasmacasting, and Suittech. 

Starter Lessons and Important Abilities
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Basics:
   * Basic attacks: Wristblade (MWP - 5 Lessons)
                    Burn (Plasmacasting - 5 Lessons)
   * Class healing ability: Support (Suittech - 5 Lessons)
   * Leaving combat: Escape (Skirmishing - 5 lessons)
   * Movement: Swimming (Exploration - 5 lessons)

For later on:
   * Class interrupting ability: Netlaunch (MWP - 60 lessons)
   * Instakill condition check: Examine (Suittech - 30 lessons)


Gear
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Depending on your loadout, you'll want to ensure that your weapons are current with your experience level, either through npc drops, or buying updated gear from players or npcs.
   * Wristblade and/or Shield
   * Netlauncher and/or Minigun
   * Railgun and/or Missile launcher

Upgrading these weapons with better stats will increase the damage those weapons will do. The benefits are contained to that weapon though, so upgrading your railgun won't make your wristblade attacks do more damage.

B.E.A.S.Ts use heavy armor, so you will want to make sure that you are upgrading the various armor components as you level up as well. See HELP ARMOR for more on that.

Resources
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The class resource for B.E.A.S.Ts in Plasma, which is used for all plasmacasting abilities. Plasma generates slowly over time, once the tanks have started heating up (HEATUP ability).  There are thresholds of heat that some abilities require which correlate to your overall resource pool level, low, medium, high, maximum, and extreme. Extreme is a special condition that requires additional steps to attain (See the CONSUMPTION ability). Maintaining your plasma tanks at maximum heat over long periods of time is not recommended, as violent temperature releases have been known to happen.

Abilities in Suittech and MWP are powered innately by your suit's internal power systems.

Stats and Attributes
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The class stats for BEASTs are aim and strength.
   * Aim will increase the damage of your abilities that require firing your 
     weapons (most abilities in MWP and Plasmacasting).
   * Strength will increase the damage of your abilities that require brute 
     strength (some abilities in MWP, most abilities in Suittech).

Alongside the class stats, you will also want to consider investing some points into Lifeforce (for an increased health pool), Evasion (to help avoid incoming damage), and Regen (to increase passive wetwiring health regeneration).

PvP Strategies and Tips
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Early strategy focuses on damage, augmented by muscular/internal damage - abilities like Wallop, Railshot or Spoolup to inflict internal/muscular damage, then attacks such as Spoolup or Headshot to capitalise on it.

The Wristblade is also viable at a low-level, it can be used in combination with the Backhand ability in Suittech (or Headshot in MWP at a later stage) to inflict extra damage.

Examine (Suittech) can be used to monitor your target's state.

Later on, the two class instakills become available - Sunder in Suittech enhances the early strategy by allowing an instakill when muscular/internal damage is sufficient. Incinerate in Plasmacasting opens up another strategy, though it's still reliant to muscular damage - in combination with Combust, it allows an instakill if the target has 5 scorched stacks, and the Conflagrate ability allows to turn existing scorched stacks into more damage.